Resonator

The sound of the human voice or of acoustic instruments can be characterized by their distinctive formant regions, that is, by resonances in the frequency spectrum that are typical for a particular sound.

For example, the vowel ah (as in father) sung by a male singer has three characteristic formants: F1 = 570 Hz, F2 = 840 Hz, and F3 = 2410 Hz. The Resonator effect allows you to induce such formant regions to a sound by using three filters that are connected in parallel. You can specify the positions and levels of the formant regions by adjusting the Cutoff, Resonance, and Gain parameters of the filters.

The Resonator effect comes with 14 predefined filter shapes that determine the basic sound character. In addition, three LFOs can be used to modulate each filter separately, which allows for adding extra motion to the sound.

Resonator Shape

Defines the basic sound character of the effect. Each shape is a unique combination of different filter types for the low, mid, and high frequency bands.


Option

Filter Low/Mid/High

Low-Pass 1

LP6/LP6/LP6

Low-Pass 2

LP12/LP12/LP12

Band-Pass 1

BP12/(-1)BP12/BP12*

Band-Pass 2

BP12/BP12/BP12

High-Pass 1

HP6/HP6/HP6

High-Pass 2

HP12/HP12/HP12

Peak 1

LP6/(-1)BP12/HP6*

Peak 2

LP6/BP12/HP6

Bat 1

HP12/BP12/LP12

Bat 2

HP6/BP12/LP6

Wings 1

LP6/BR12/HP6

Wings 2

HP12/BR12/LP12

Wings 3

LP6/(-1)BR12/HP6*

Wings 4

HP12/(-1)BR12/LP12*

 

*(-1) means that the phase is inverted


Mix

Sets the ratio between the dry and the wet signal.

Cutoff Spread

Spreads the cutoff frequencies between the channels of the effect.

For example, if the effect is used in stereo, positive Cutoff Spread values shift the cutoff down on the left channel and up on the right channel.

Filter Tab

Cutoff

Adjusts the cutoff frequency of the filter, that is, the center frequency of the formant region.

Resonance

Adjusts the resonance of the filter. The resonance determines how much the formant region is emphasized. At higher settings, the filter self-oscillates, which results in a ringing tone.

Gain

Adjusts the input gain of the filter. The gain determines the level of the formant region.

LFO Modulation Source

Allows you to select the LFO that modulates the cutoff.

LFO Modulation Depth

Adjusts the cutoff modulation from the LFO.

LFO Tab

LFO Waveform and Shape
  • Sine produces smooth modulation, suitable for vibrato or tremolo. Shape adds additional harmonics to the waveform.

  • Triangle is similar to Sine. Shape continuously changes the triangle waveform to a trapezoid.

  • Saw produces a ramp cycle. Shape continuously changes the waveform from ramp down to triangle to ramp up.

  • Pulse produces stepped modulation, where the modulation switches abruptly between two values. Shape continuously changes the ratio between the high and low state of the waveform. If Shape is set to 50 %, a square wave is produced.

  • Ramp is similar to the Saw waveform. Shape increasingly puts silence before the sawtooth ramp up begins.

  • Log produces a logarithmic modulation. Shape continuously changes the logarithmic curvature from negative to positive.

  • S & H 1 produces randomly stepped modulation, where each step is different. Shape puts ramps between the steps and changes the S & H into a smooth random signal when fully turned right.

  • S & H 2 is similar to S & H 1. The steps alternate between random high and low values. Shape puts ramps between the steps and changes the S & H into a smooth random signal when fully turned right.

Spread

For each channel of the effect, there is a separate LFO signal. This parameter spreads the phase of the LFO signals across the different channels.

For example, if the effect is used in stereo, positive values shift the LFO phase forward on the left channel and backward on the right channel.

Sync

Activate this to set the Freq parameter in fractions of beats.

Freq

Determines the frequency of the cutoff modulation.